Latest DX mock has Lillard to Portland at 6 and Waiters to Golden State at 7. They have us taking Lamb at 8 and the Pistons taking Drummond at 9. If Drummond is there at 8, we gotta take a long hard look at him.

At the very least we try to trade down even one spot, while picking up some other benefit for doing so. Even something as mundane as trading #8 & #56 for #9 & #39/44 (Detroit has 2 2nd round picks), would be better than just bypassing Drummond. I would be willing to bet that BC will get some pretty competitive calls for #8 if Drummond falls.

If the kings/rocket trade does happen that means lillard or waiters WILL fall to us, which is also good news. Either way, the rockets trading up benefits Toronto.

How so? Portland could still take Lillard @ 6, then Golden State takes Waiters @ 7, regardless what Sac/Hou does at 5. If anything, if Houston were to move up to draft Drummond @ 5, it could mean that MKG is on his way down... wouldn't that be interesting! I can't see Portland picking MKG (Batum) over Lillard. GS apparently wants an offensive SF upgrade, which is the one thing MKG doesn't offer. Maybe the non-tanking karma will work in our favor, for all the fans who've been pining for MKG for months!

The draft - and all the mock drafts - could get totally messed up if/when some/all of the rumored deals start going down!

- Charlotte trading down to swap #2/#4 with Cleveland, while also picking up Cleveland's 2nd 1st round pick (#24) --> Cleveland would likely draft Beal/MKG, while Charlotte would draft Barnes (MJ's NC connection)
- Sacramento & Toronto both rumored to be trading down with Houston's #14/16 picks; rumor has it that #5 & #8 would then get flipped to a suddenly rebuilding Orlando team
- Golden State possibly trading #7 for a wing (although it sounds like they've soured on Deng and his injury risk)
- Portland (#6 and/or #11) and New Orleans (#10) both apparently being open to trading out/down

In a related story, I just read on ESPN that Sullinger wasn't invited by the NBA to their draft green room. Usually the top 12-16 picks or so get invited, so it sounds like they expect Sullinger to drop out of the lottery (at least).

Thursday can't get here soon enough!

Yet another rumor from ESPN:
- Minnesota dangling Derrick Williams as bait to move into lottery

Draft Express has Lamb (to the Raptors) at #8 and Drummond at #9. I really doubt that Lamb will be picked ahead of Drummond. If Drummond falls to #8, then I think the Raptors trade Drummond/#9 to a team that covets him.

How so? Portland could still take Lillard @ 6, then Golden State takes Waiters @ 7, regardless what Sac/Hou does at 5. If anything, if Houston were to move up to draft Drummond @ 5, it could mean that MKG is on his way down... wouldn't that be interesting! I can't see Portland picking MKG (Batum) over Lillard. GS apparently wants an offensive SF upgrade, which is the one thing MKG doesn't offer. Maybe the non-tanking karma will work in our favor, for all the fans who've been pining for MKG for months!

If the Lowry trade went down, and we got #16, then I'd like to take a flyer on Q. Miller. I don't think the Raps ever worked him out, so it might be a long shot. We need a star, but at 16 we are most likely not going to get one. So I'd go for a guy who has the most potential of becoming one - and Miller seems like the guy that will have the most potential at that spot.

Kawahi Leonard was picked at 15. Its who you pick and how he is developed. But then again
having to play with the Spurs and get coached by Popovich doesnt hurt either.

Is anyone else a little disappointed in the lack of second round players brought in for workouts, much less the ones being worked out? Outside of Sacre and Joseph maybe Taylor none of them are guys i'd ever look at, personally. Where's guys like Lamb, Barton, Machado, Cunningham or Jenkins? The reality is we could get a solid contributor with that first second rounder, i'm not sure why they're not doing more to look into it.

/end rant

Lang Greene: The Toronto Raptors are working out Tu Holloway (Xavier), Robbie Hummel (Purdue) and Negueba Samake (Mali) this morning.

Not to burst your bubble Ceez, but I don't think picking the best player available is a line of thinking soleley used by Toronto. If it's between MKG, Lillard and Waiters someone is going to pick MKG regardless of need.

The impending arrival of Valanciunas has to be playing into Toronto’s preparation for Thursday’s NBA draft.

Stefanski reiterated a commonly held opinion that Valanciunas would be the consensus No. 2 pick this year behind Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and adding Valanciunas to the roster might allow Toronto to take someone at No. 8 who is a longer-term prospect rather than someone who can contribute right away.

“To take a flyer?” wondered Stefanski. “I don’t know at eight there is a flyer. I think all the names we are considering, and we have a list of them, there’s no one there I would consider a flyer because I don’t think anyone in that range is a flyer right now.”

But it might be easier to take someone with potential because they expect they’ll already have a rookie who can help.

So who in the 8 range would you guys consider more of a project than the others? I would say that Lillard would be out.

It's assumed that Portland will likely take Drummond (at 6) if he falls out of the top 5. But the Blazers are also extremely high on Damian Lillard and may not want to take the gamble that he's still available at 11.

Golden State would like to shore up their SF position. One option would be to trade to the late lottery area to target either Terrence Ross or Moe Harkless. Another rumor is that they are looking to add a veteren SF with their 7th pick with Luol Deng's name getting a lot of run. But the Bulls assured Deng he wasn't going anywhere according to Yahoo.

f Jeremy Lamb doesn't go 8 to Toronto as some expect, there are rumors that he could really slide on draft night. Teams apparently are more than just a little bit worried about his shoulder, which David Aldridge first reported on. The injury that doctors have flagged is to his right shooting shoulder and there is concern that it could recur during his career. One team we spoke with said they felt he could slide right out of the lottery and into the teens. We consider Lamb to be the SG prospect with the most long term potential. But this shoulder injury combined with his ankle injury and inability to work out for teams before today (Portland) could cost him on draft night.